A helping hand
by loonie lupin
Summary: Morgan is worried about Hotch and rightly so. Good thing he decides to check on him. Friendship/pre-slash, depends of the point of view


**Title**: A helping hand  
**Author : **Nilitara  
**Fandom :** Criminal Minds  
**Characters/Pairing :** Hotch, Morgan (friendship or pre-slash, depending on the point of view)  
**Spoiler **: In my mind, the story happens sometimes during season 3 but no real spoiler.  
**Rating : **FRT  
**Summary :** Morgan is worried about Hotch and rightly so. Good thing he decides to check on him.  
**Disclaimer :** The characters and settings are not mine but the property of their creators.

**A helping hand**

Agent Morgan decided to get to the heart of the matter, and rather sooner than later, because if there was something obvious, it was that something was wrong. He knew it but didn't know what exactly, which was driving him crazy and making it hard to concentrate on their case. Seeing the nature of the murders they were investigating, distraction was just not an option. But, right now, even knowing that, the only thing his mind could stick on was Hotch and his strange, even worrisome to some extend, behavior.

Don't get him wrong. Hotch had been nothing if not professional with their case since the moment they had received the call for help and Morgan was certain that whatever it was that was going on with his boss had nothing to do with the serial killer they were trying desperately to track down. Not, it was something else. Something probably more personal, which was both a good and a bad new.

A good thing because that meant it probably had nothing to do with anything seriously bad, like some case that just reminded someone of their own story, and the fact that Hotch was alright with the case meant not having to worry about anything he found having to be looked over by someone else to see if it was really something solid or just something that was coming from personal feelings speaking.

The downside of the matter, of course, was that Hotch was usually totally closed off when it came to his private life. It had taken quite a while for him to inform the team he was having problems with Haley and Morgan was sure the only reason he actually told them he was getting a divorce was o they would concentrate on their cases instead of using their profiling skills on him – no matter what the policy on profiling members of their own team was, none of them could actually turn it off – to know what was going on.

However, Morgan couldn't let the situation go without intervening, not when there was something that seemed to make their boss stop eating and be sometimes quite a bit out of it. It was simply too dangerous. For Hotch, because in the field a second of inattention could make all the difference between life and death, but also for the rest of the team.

He knew none of the others would have gone to see what was wrong. Oh, they would have wondered, would have worried, but none of them would have actually asked. Prentiss, JJ and Reid would not dare doing it and Rossi thought their personal life was just that, personal. The only one who would have done it, now that Gideon was gone, was Garcia and she wasn't with them. While Hotch would have had a hard time denying her the truth in a face to face, it wasn't quite the same when she was on the phone. He could hang up if he wanted. So, the duty was his.

He knocked on the door and waited for a while, not receiving any answer. He tried again, without any more success, and only hesitated just a few more seconds before acting. God bless the security protocol the FBI had that forced every members of the team to give their key room to at least another one. Thankfully, Morgan had Hotch's. Normally, he wouldn't have sued it unless it was an extreme emergency – like Hotch screaming bloody murder from inside – but that day, he just didn't care if his boss chewed him out for invading his privacy.

He entered the room swiftly and, when his eyes fell upon Hotch, he swore and closed the door behind him before rushing to the other agent. Hotch was sitting on the floor, his arms around his middle, eyes shut tightly in an expression of pain. He seemed to be hurting pretty badly. And quite frankly, the amount of pain he had to be to let himself be seen like this by Morgan – there was no way the other man didn't know he was there – had to be colossal.

Morgan crouched down next to Hotch and gently took one of his arms, careful not to do any brutal gesture.

"Come on, man, let's get you on the bed," he said, his voice kind as if he was talking to one of their victims once they had been rescued but, quite frankly, Hotch didn't have the strength to comment on it at the moment.

He let Morgan help him on his feet and had to grit his teeth to keep from crying out. A few seconds later, he found himself sitting on the bed, Morgan at his side, a hand on his forehead. He tried to shake him off but the black man was insistent and didn't take long to get an idea of his body temperature.

Morgan frowned. Hotch seemed really hot and it had nothing to do with his physical appearance. That wasn't a very good sign and, combined with what he had already observed before, he had a pretty good idea of what was going on with his boss. And god, there really was only Hotch to still want to work on their cases when it was obvious that he wasn't in any state to.

"Okay, I'm calling an ambulance," Morgan stated, only just managing to finish his sentence before his boss intervened.

"No! Morgan, I'm fine!" Hotch exclaimed, making an effort to straighten himself up, to at least try to look like the part. "It's going to be over in a minute."

"Fine? Hotch, you're not fine! Your stomach is apparently hurting badly, you have a fever and, if I'm not mistaking, the fact that you have eaten nothing at all in a while indicates that you are nauseous."

"I thought we didn't profile each other," Hotch grunted.

"That's not profiling, it's basic observations. Now, I'm making that call."

"You are not calling an ambulance," he said in a voice that clearly stated he wouldn't take a contradiction for an answer. "And that's an order."

Morgan arched an eyebrow. It wasn't very often that Hotch resorted to use his position as a supervisor for something that had nothing to do with a case. Hell, even during their cases, he usually didn't do it, most people deferring usually to what he said without making problems. Wisely, he kept his mouth shut and didn't say as much to Hotch, admitting that the ambulance may have been going overboard at the moment. On the other hand, he couldn't let it pass completely.

"Then, I am taking you to the hospital," he said.

Hotch sighed in frustration, focusing on Morgan and not the pain that still cursed through his body, although not so strongly as it had done when his teammate had entered the room.

"I don't need to go to the hospital, Morgan. I need to get to sleep and then go back to trying to find our killer."

The words and tone were biting, he knew it, but he was hurting and irritated that Morgan had decided to play the nurse instead of leaving him alone so the black man would just have to take it or go away. It may have been childish but he really didn't care at the moment.

"Sure," Morgan approved, though Hotch could easily perceive the sarcasm behind the words. "Sure, so tomorrow, when we're chasing our killer and you and, let's say Reid or, hey, maybe JJ, are going to interrogate a suspect that turn out to be our UnSub, you suddenly have another of these little 'attacks', they find themselves without any backup."

He knew he wasn't playing fair because putting someone – anyone – of the team in danger was something Hotch just wouldn't do. He would rather die than be responsible for one of them being injured, but he knew that the man would refuse any medical attention if all the arguments Morgan could come up with were for his own sack. So, why not play on Hotch's greatest fear?

Obviously, Morgan hadn't lost his edge because Hotch's face drained and he became paler – if that was even possible.

"I wouldn't put anyone in danger!" he exclaimed, turning to Morgan and the black man nearly winced when he saw the hurt look his boss shot at him.

He felt a stab of guilt at even implying this possibility because he knew that the one thing Hotch really needed from them was their complete trust and making him believe he didn't have his totally almost made Morgan sick. He closed briefly his eyes.

"I know, Hotch," he said softly, easing immediately the low blow. "But that exactly what's going to happen if you refuse to go to hospital. Even if you are not in the field, we are going to worry about you and we won't be at our best."

Reassured by the fact that Morgan didn't actually think him capable of putting Reid or JJ at risk, even though he had done it once already, he listened to what the other man had to say and knew, deep down, that he was right. It didn't mean he actually wanted to go to hospital, not as long as the killer was still outside, roaming freely, leaving other bodies for them to discover.

"Look," Morgan said, realizing that his boss wasn't going to agree even after the valid argument. "Let's make a deal. I'm going to do something. If what you have is really nothing, then nothing's going to happen and I let you sleep and you do whatever you want at the PD station tomorrow. On the other hand, if what I do have the effects I think it will have, I'm taking you to hospital and you don't get to talk your way out of it. Agreed?"

He knew that was one deal he was going to win hands up because, let's face it, it didn't take a doctor to know what Hotch had, even though the other man seemed in total denial. Still, Hotch agreed and Morgan nearly sighed out loud in relief.

"Alright man, lie down," he said, indicating the bed with his chin.

Hotch looked at him for a few seconds but when Morgan just raised an eyebrow, he did what he was told and put his head on his pillow, lying down completely, his eyes never leaving Morgan as the other man took his shirt off his pants and upped it so he could have access to his stomach.

Hotch bit his lips when Morgan put his hand on the right side of his belly and pushed. It did hurt, a bit, not too much, but he knew that it was when he would release that it would be hell. He wasn't wrong.

As soon as Morgan abruptly took his hand away, Hotch felt a blinding pain and bit his lips so hard blood pooled. For a moment, he couldn't think and, when he came back to himself, he was curled up on his side, Morgan's hand rubbing his arm soothingly. He opened his eyes, one tear of pain rolling down his cheek, as he fought to breath normally again.

"Okay," Morgan decided. "That's it, man. I'm taking you to hospital and you're going to stay there because you know as well as me that you're in the middle of an appendicitis crisis and that, seeing your level of pain and the fact that you have probably been in pain for a few days, it's becoming quite dangerous to wait anymore."

Morgan's little experience had hurt even more than he thought it would have and he could only nod, eyes still filled with pain and exhaustion and the younger man helped Hotch back on his feet, making sure not to jolt him too much because he knew for a fact that it would have been very painful.

They made their way out of the hotel room and out of the building. Morgan was keeping a hand on Hotch's back, not exactly helping but just showing some comfort, and Hotch was very grateful for it. It felt nice to have someone worried about him, he had to admit, even though he couldn't let it show too much, not if he wanted to stay in control of the team and never let them see him weak because it just wasn't a possibility anymore, not when they all relied on him now that Gideon was gone.

Morgan knew that and this was the only reason he didn't insist on doing more than just guide Hotch to the car. If it had been Reid, or one of the girls, he would have probably carried them to the vehicle. They may have protested some but they would have let him in the end. Hotch wouldn't and he understood the reason behind it even though he found it stupid. Still, he didn't try. The last thing Hotch needed was to hurt himself by fighting against Morgan.

Thankfully, the car was not very far and a few minutes later found them on the road. Hotch had to grit his teeth and close his eyes to fight the pain that came with every little jolt of the car. Damn, Morgan thought, he should have insisted on an ambulance, at least there would have had something to alleviate the pain some.

As it was, there wasn't a lot Morgan could do to help his friend so he just took one hand off the wheel and squeezed Hotch's arm, letting it there during the whole way to the hospital which, fortunately, wasn't very long. They were, of course, directly admitted because it was only a small town and the folks were perfectly aware of who they were and were totally happy to be able to help in one way or another. Thanks god, there was no way their unsub could have been working in the medical sector.

He let his boss in the capable hands of the nurses who had to prepare everything for an surgery and went just outside the emergency room to call the rest of the team, not wanting them to worry about where their teammate were. He directly phoned Rossi, knowing that with Hotch out of commission it would be his role to assume the leadership for the case, and told him he was taking care of everything from this end and would come back once he had some news about what was going to happen in the next few days for Hotch.

Once he ended the phone call, he went back to where he knew his boss had been taken and crossed the nurse as she was just leaving.

"Miss?" he asked as she was passing him, her eyes locked on the paper sheet she was reading.

She looked up and saw him. Immediately she smiled, a reassuring smile telling him everything was alright without needing words. Still, she added some information.

"It will take between thirty and forty-five minutes for the surgeon to be able to take Agent Hotchner, Agent Morgan. You can go in and keep him company for the moment but he may be a little out of it. We gave him some morphine to dull the pain."

Morgan nodded and politely thanked her before turning to the door. Now that he knew Hotch wasn't in danger and not in pain anymore, he could see some advantage with the situation. With Hotch high on morphine, he could have some fun and gather some blackmail material for future use. He couldn't help it, he had to smirk.


End file.
